The impact of a negative labor demand shock on fertility – Evidence from the fall of the Berlin Wall

Hannah Liepmann

Labour Economics, 2018, vol. 54, issue C, 210-224

Abstract: How does a negative labor demand shock impact fertility? I analyze this question in the context of the East German fertility decline after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. I exploit differential pressure for restructuring across East German industries which led to unexpected, exogenous, and permanent changes to labor demand. I find that throughout the 1990s, women more severely impacted by the demand shock had relatively more children than their less-severely-impacted counterparts. Thus, the demand shock did not only depress the aggregate fertility level but also changed the composition of mothers. My paper shows that these two effects do not necessarily operate in the same direction.

Keywords: Fertility; Labor demand shock; Industrial restructuring; East Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J23 P36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: The Impact of a Negative Labor Demand Shock On Fertility - Evidence From the Fall of the Berlin Wall (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:54:y:2018:i:c:p:210-224

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2018.07.003

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